utting her in his harem,
even if he had succeeded through his agents in capturing her; though he
was urged forward to this by the insults you heaped upon him.

"I mean that you spoke the truth to him, nothing more, as I did. He
desires to beg your forgiveness, and he would cross the Atlantic for the
purpose of doing so. We stayed at Messina three weeks, and at the end of
that time General Noury was quite well again. He gave Dr. Henderson a
hundred thousand francs, and wanted me to take five times that amount;
but I positively refused to take a cent from him. To shorten up the
story, we became fast friends, including my wife. He had sent the Fatty
off, and I invited him to remain on board of the Viking. He was in a
hurry to get to Gibraltar; and I soon found that he had a reason for
going there.

"He told me that the Fatty was old and slow, and more than a year before
he had ordered the finest steam-yacht that could be built; and the
Blanche was the result of the order. He named her after the highest
ideal he had ever been able to obtain of human loveliness; but he had
written this letter from Madeira, before he had had any trouble with
you. Ruth and I were ready to go to England by this time, and we
conveyed the general to Gibraltar. He had received a letter from his
English agent informing him that the Blanche was finished.

"He ordered his man of business to ship the best English ship's company
he could gather together at liberal wages, and proceed to Gibraltar. We
found her there. He insisted that I should sell the Viking, for which he
found a customer, and take the command of the Blanche. My wife should
have any and all the accommodations on board she desired, and we would
make the voyage around the world, an idea he borrowed from you, Captain
Ringgold.

"I accepted the offer because I liked the general, and my wife was more
pleased with the plan than I was. I was to have my own way about
everything, and he acted in princely style. My first business was to
improve his reputation in Gibraltar. He gave a very large sum to the
charities of the city; and where the officers and soldiers had benefit
associations he filled up their coffers. He did not drink a drop of
spirits or wine, and would have signed a total-abstinence pledge if I
had asked him to do so. I am not quite old enough to be his father; but
if he had been my son I could have had no more influence over him.

"The general came to me to know how he should